1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an extraction tower for the extraction of juice from slices of fruit, having an outer tower casing equipped on its inside wall with arresters (baffles); a bottom sieve in a bottom region of the tower casing; and a central tubular shaft which is equipped over its length with conveyor vanes, is held at its bottom end in a bearing, and is acted on at its top end by a rotary drive. The rotary drive includes a plurality of drive units which are distributed around the periphery of the tubular shaft and which are connected to the tower casing. Each of the drive units engage, by means of a drive pinion, a toothed rim which is provided on the tubular shaft.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the previously known embodiment, the tubular shaft, whose diameter, for example, may be half the size of the diameter of the tower casing, is taken out centrally in the downward direction through the bottom of the casing. In this region, a stuffing box is provided with the complete tubular shaft being supported on a foundation with the aid of a rolling-contact bearing combination. The rotary drive of the tubular shaft includes a plurality of geared motors which are installed on the toothed rim of the tubular shaft with the aid of special tracks.